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Automatically identifying brain regions

This image shows the fly brain and several different types of neurons involved in bringing visual information from from the eyes. The authors developed a new technique which allowed them to automatically identify specific regions of the fly brain involved in visual processing. Each color shows a group of neurons which target such brain regions. Credit: Image courtesy of Research Institute of Molecular Pathology

Using the example of the fruit fly, a team of biologists led by Prof. Dr. Andrew Straw has identified patterns in the genetic activity of brain cells and taken them as a basis for drawing conclusions about the structure of the brain. The research, published in Current Biology, was conducted at the University of Freiburg and at the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) in Vienna, Austria.